The Scorch Trials

Following the events in The Maze Runner book 1, Thomas finds himself in the formerly called Mexico, presently called "The Scorch".
It has been revealed that a series of sun flares have scorched the Earth and a following sickness called "The Flare" spreads through the world.
The surviving gladers are tasked with one challenge: Travel 100 miles north and survive.
James Dashner has outdone himself and exceeded my expectations. The relationship between Thomas and Teresa is very... interesting.
I find myself intrigued in this dystopia world, where the infected are becoming mindless zombies and where a huge area has turned into a wasteland.
The WICKED organisation is very well described, yet the author doesn't reveal too many secrets and keeps the reader's attention and interest.
For anyone interested in a post apocalyptic dystopia novel, with some crazy romance, I definitely recommend this book.

I was maybe 10% into this book, and was having a conversation with a teenager about this series and my problems with it, when I had a realization: I don't trust the author.
When an author's setting up a big reveal, there need to be enough clues about what's happening to keep the reader from giving up before the reveal is shown. We the readers need to twist that the author knows what they're doing, that the payoff's gonna be worth the trouble. And that's where this whole series fails. There's no sense of, well, of sense. Dashner keeps saying, "Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Just trust me, trust me. It'll all make sense." But two books in, and it's all still "Trust me! You don't understand, but you will!" The cards are too close to your chest, Dashner. I'm not willing to suspend disbelief this long.

4,5 stars

Enjoyable. Picks up quickly and keeps up the pace until the end. The book really has you questioning everything right up until the end.